1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a programmable time fuse, which utilizes a reversible electrochemical process with definite beginning and end states in order to operate the igniting device after a predetermined time by an electronic or electromechancial switch.
2. The Prior Art
In the field of military usage, there is frequently needed a time fuse which is adjustable continuously or discontinuously over a wide time range. The present invention provides such an arrangement.
Delay times in time fuses have heretofore been achieved by the following principles: through mechanical clocks, pyrotechnical and chemical delay arrangements, through the use of analog procedures as well as by the use of an oscillator with a frequency divider. Time fuses based on these principles are not always applicable because of their construction. With mechanical clocks a time range less than 0.1 seconds cannot be achieved. Also the clockwork can easily be detected because of its ticking.
Pyrotechnic and chemical time fuses are feasible only for time delays up to a few seconds and do not have sufficient accuracy for many uses. Electronic time fuses with an oscillator and a frequency divider are indeed very exact, but their production is very complicated and therefore expensive.